


True Wealth

by InexplicableCat



Category: South Park, South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999), South Park: The Stick of Truth (Video Game)
Genre: Cliche Plot, M/M, but for a reason
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-21
Updated: 2016-02-11
Packaged: 2018-05-02 17:57:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5258207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InexplicableCat/pseuds/InexplicableCat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"And then she rescued him right back yadda yadda yadda la dee blah blah da. Listen, I'm not looking for a fairytale but what exactly do you call the resident Croesus suddenly taking an interest in the poor boy?" "South Park level craziness maybe?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Celebrity Skin

Kenny was sitting on the floor at one corner of the Blacks' living room, all by himself, holding loosely an empty beer bottle in his hand. He wasn't completely wasted, he only had five beers after all, but they were a cheap-ass brand and they made him feel a bit tipsy. He certainly wasn't sober enough to try getting up and fight his way through a room of drunken teenagers, dry-humping each other. Saturday night parties at Token's place had the tendency to end up as a big fucking orgy.

No, he was quite comfortable, in his own little corner, listening to the loud music and quietly humming to himself. He was leaning his head against the wall, keeping his eyes shut and that's why he didn't notice his aforementioned host approaching him and slumping onto the floor beside him. Token nudged Kenny's arm with something that felt cool against his bare skin and the blonde boy opened his eyes abruptly, realizing he was staring at a bottle of whiskey. A very _expensive_ bottle of whiskey.

"Here Kenny, drink with me," Token said, offering him the bottle and Kenny took a long look at it before bringing it to his lips and taking a sip. Damn, it tasted good.

"Ah, thanks man, the fatass went to find more booze and left me here all alone. He promised to bring me back another beer, though."

"I last saw Cartman in the kitchen, raiding my snacks cupboards," Token informed him.

Kenny rolled his eyes at that "Figures."

He then passed the bottle back to his companion, and while Token was taking a deep swig of it, Kenny raised an eyebrow at him and asked the question that had formed in his mind the minute Token had brought him the whiskey. "Hey, isn't this like the really fancy stuff? I mean, your parents won't get mad or anything?"

Token, apparently being a bit lightheaded himself, suppressed a small chuckle before answering, "nah, don't worry, it's my shit after all, I was just, you know, saving it for..." and with that he trailed off, looking slightly embarrassed like he was about to blurt out something he shouldn't. He lowered his eyes, away from Kenny's face and stared at the floor instead.

Kenny gave him a curious glance and then a smirk started forming on his face. He snatched the bottle away from Token, who didn't resist much and was keeping his dark eyes on the floor. "Be careful rich boy, don't spoil me like that or I might go all Pretty Woman on your ass," Kenny teased playfully, laughing to himself and taking a long drink. With the addition of whiskey in his blood he had reached the point where he deemed his own lame jokes as unbearably funny.

Token, on the other hand, looked rather nervous and flustered.

Before Kenny had a chance to inquire as to what was bothering him, Token let out an exasperated sigh and breathed out heavily "Fuck, maybe you should."

And with that the smile dropped from Kenny's face and his expression started mimicking his companion's.

Token sighed again, more softly this time, allowing his eyes to finally go up and wander on Kenny's face, which made the other boy feel a little uncomfortable. The combination of the awkwardness of the moment along with the alcohol in his system made him feel unsettling. What was Token playing at?

He didn't have to wait too long to find out though, cause Token pried his eyes away from his face once again and with a more steady voice he started explaining "I mean, you are pretty much into anything, right, and I...Well, not only am I the only black guy in this hick town, at least in our age, but I am part of every fucking minority around here. Well, except from the Jews. I'm pretty sure I'm not a Jew." Kenny was thoroughly confused by that point but he couldn't bring himself to interrupt his companion's mini soliloquy. At least not yet.

"I mean can you even imagine it? Being black _and_ gay in this fucking redneck kingdom!"

Ok, thought Kenny, this conversation needed to slow down immediately. Token was _gay?_ When the fuck did _that_ happen?

He opened his mouth as if to offer a small protest or something, but it looked like Token was on a rant, apparently he wanted to get a few things of his chest for a long time.

"I mean, seriously, how am I supposed to even get any action? This town is so fucked up man and I'm like a clause for politically correctness, like the punchline to a bad joke, if you think about it."

Now, he was getting all philosophical and shit and Kenny was pretty sure he didn't do philosophical even in his most sober state, and especially not when he was slowly getting more and more hammered on Token's $500 whiskey.

So being the whitetrash piece of shit that he was, he interrupted Token's speech by blurting out the first thing that came to his mind "wait, are you saying you wanna start paying me for hooking up with you?"

At Kenny's words, Token lost his previous bravado, his face heat up and he almost choked on the whiskey. He managed to pull it together though, just a couple of seconds later, and he stated matter-of-factly "No. But I _could_ make your life a whole lot easier."

Kenny contemplated this for a moment as he was observing Token's face, who looked ready to throw up but to his defense he didn't avert his eyes this time.

And maybe because Kenny was completely wasted by then, maybe because Token's eyes were pretty damn soft or maybe because there was a silent plead in those eyes somewhere, Kenny took the almost empty bottle from Token's hands, dropping it on the floor with a not so subtle thud – luckily it didn't break – and cupped the other boy's face in his hands. Token looked like he was about to explode, staring into the blonde's cerulean eyes, so Kenny decided to put him out of his misery by slurring "Hell, why the fuck not?" before crashing their lips together.

* * *

He woke up with what he would later refer to as the most mind-blowing hangover of the season and his mind immediately tried to register its surroundings. He knew he was at Token's place, because he remembered attending the party the night before but he couldn't, for the life of him, make out all the details. He had drunk a lot and had also mixed various drinks, so the previous night was still pretty hazy, especially the last part.

When he felt confident enough to open his eyes completely, he realized he was in someone's bedroom, sprawled out on that someone's bed, which was a king sized one, but still the whole room didn't feel like it was Token's parents' bedroom. Besides, there's no way in hell Token would have let him crash at his parent's bed no matter how drunk and pathetic he might have looked. And although he suspected the Blacks had a lot of guest rooms, another look around the room that he was currently hiding in, confirmed what he had already begun to suspect. He was in Token's own bedroom. And as soon as the realization hit him, and some of yesterday's memories came crashing back to him, he sat up abruptly and with such a force that he almost fell of the bed altogether, eyes widening in mild terror.

He wasn't making out with Token last night, was he?

And if he wasn't, what the hell was he doing in his bed?

What else happened that he had no memory of?

Kenny decided that hiding in Token's bedroom was not getting him anywhere, he needed some answers and by answers he also meant the strongest fucking coffee on the planet to fight that insufferable hangover. So he dragged himself out of bed and for the first time it dawned on him that he was fully clothed. _Good_ he thought, at least that meant he didn't do anything completely stupid yesterday, even if he had to endure the horrible smell his sleep-in clothes were now emanating. He stopped at the closest bathroom on his way downstairs and poured some water on his face before checking his reflection in the mirror. God, he really looked like shit. Not that he was extremely self-conscious or anything. Kenny knew he was attractive, hell he was probably the most handsome guy in his entire class, despite his poor diet and his general unkemptness. The only nice thing he got from his fucked up family was good genes. Someone could even suggest that he possessed some kind of natural beauty, the type that is always evident even under layers of dirt and dried blood. So Kenny never actually tried to look good, especially not after a crazy night of booze and, possibly, several amorous activities with a certain rich boy.

Said rich boy, was nowhere in sight, Kenny thought, as he was going down the stairs to the main kitchen of the Black's residence. He was also wondering if he was the only one left in the house; it certainly looked that way. As he passed the living room on his way to the kitchen, he noticed it was completely deserted; all of last night's drunk teenagers must have gone to their respective homes, Kenny speculated. Shit. That wasn't good. He did _not_ want to be in an empty house alone with Token, who may or may not have had his tongue down his throat the night before. And then there was the issue of Token's bed. If they didn't make out why would the other boy get into all the trouble of carrying him to his very own bed instead of dumping his sorry ass to the nearest couch?

He could make out muffled voices coming from the enormous kitchen and he braced himself for a couple of seconds before heading to the direction of the voices. He entered the kitchen tentatively and his eyes fell to the square wooden table, right in the middle of the room, where a very disheveled Clyde was sitting with his face in his hands seemingly sporting a hangover that could rival Kenny's. The blonde hoped he didn't look that miserable though. A quick glance around the luxurious kitchen and Kenny found what he was looking for. Token was standing in front of the counter, his back on them, with a metallic turner on his hand, apparently cooking what smelled like eggs and bacon. Despite his hangover and the hoarseness in his throat, Kenny couldn't stop his mouth from watering at the delicious smell. He didn't even remember the last time he ate a proper home-cooked meal.

Speaking of that, he noticed how Token looked completely at ease preparing breakfast for Clyde and hopefully for his poor ass too, wearing a black cotton apron on top of what appeared to be a purple turtleneck sweater and a pair of black chinos. Damn, he looked good for so early in the morning. And apparently neither him nor Clyde noticed him standing awkwardly and shifting from foot to foot, so Kenny faked a cough that startled Clyde to the point of almost falling from his chair. Token, however, just turned his head and upon seeing it was him, his lips curled up into a small smile while his eyes were shifting shyly from Kenny's face to the floor. And underneath his cool exterior, Kenny could clearly spot the embarrassment on Token's face, the timidness in his small movements.

Damn. Shit. Fuck! He was _definitely_ making out with Token last night.

Kenny wasn't one for awkward moments, though, so he slumped into the nearest chair, employed his most charming smile and offered "it smells deliciously, Toke."

Clyde raised an eyebrow at that, while Token grinned happily, clearly enjoying the compliment.

"Thanks dude, it will be ready in five minutes. Hey guys, do you wanna some pancakes as well?"

"Well, who could say no to pancakes," Kenny started but he was caught off abruptly by Clyde who was now glaring at him "No, we are cool Token, don't worry about it, man."

"Are you sure? I've got all kinds of syrup," their host insisted and Kenny felt his mouth watering again. This time Clyde answered for the both of them without even giving the poor boy a chance to open his mouth "Yeah dude, we don't want you getting into all this trouble," he said while shooting pointed glances at Kenny, who decided not to press the issue further. Hell, eggs and bacon was a satisfactory breakfast all by itself, way better than Kenny's usual fried bread. They were silent for a few moments, the only sound being the sizzling of the frying food. Clyde was back to resting his head on the table wishing his hangover away and Kenny took the chance to observe the lush kitchen.

And while the poor boy had talked himself, ages ago, into not feeling envious of the countless advantages pretty much every single one of his friends had over him, he still couldn't keep that sickening feeling at the bottom of his stomach, like a twisting razor, from tormenting him. Luckily Token brought their food just in time for Kenny to stop musing over the injustice of it all.

He couldn't help but wonder, though, if Clyde knew anything about last night. He and Token were pretty close, it was only natural that he mentioned something to him about their escapades.

As soon as Token set a plate in front of Clyde, he started gobbling down the food not even bothering thanking Token for taking the time to feed his sorry ass.

Kenny, however, living up to his whitetrash and a gentleman reputation knew there were two things you should always feel grateful for. Sex and food. And his dark skinned friend offered him both of those things in less than a day.

So he raised his cerulean blue eyes and stared into Token's chocolate brown ones, where he could clearly see a hint of nervousness. He couldn't help but find that cute.

"Thank you, man," he said, offering one of his best smiles.

"No problem, I like cooking anyway."

To that Clyde grunted appreciatively, his mouth full of bacon, agreeing with his best friend's statement.

"You are not having any yourself?" Kenny asked his host.

"No, I usually have just coffee for breakfast."

"That's what you get for hanging out with Tweek too much," Clyde said with a smirk before stuffing his face with another bite of eggs.

Kenny wanted to inquire more about Token's eating habits but his perpetual hunger got the better of him and he started eating his own food. It took only a bite to realize that Clyde was right. It was the best eggs with bacon he had ever tasted.

"Wow, this is great, dude. Didn't know you could cook that good."

Token looked even more flustered at the compliment.

"Thanks Kenny. It's like a hobby of mine."

He finished the rest of his meal in silence, while Token and Clyde were engaged in a conversation about last night's party.

"I'm telling you dude, I heard Craig talking about it before he passed out," Clyde said while sipping some of his orange juice.

"Yeah, but he was pretty wasted. I still don't know how he managed to get up at seven today."

"Because he is so boring, his body goes through the same repetitive motions every day. For him sleeping in would be like getting his nipple pierced or something," Clyde chuckled at his own little joke.

Actually that reminded Kenny..."What time is it now anyway, guys?"

"11:20" Token informed him before turning his attention back to Clyde "So will you tell me what happened or what? You make it sound like it was something earth-shattering!"

That caught Kenny's interest. There was only one other thing that he enjoyed as much as food and sex. Gossip. He would never admit it, of course, and he lied about it even to himself, insisting that he just wanted to be well informed about the things that were happening all around him.

And informed he was. He knew pretty much everything, especially about who slept with whom or who had the hots for whom. His own intuition was combined with the uncanny ability of making people confessing all kinds of embarrassing stuff to him without him even trying. Basically, Kenny was the guy to go to if you wanted information.

So he pretended he was too preoccupied with his breakfast while eavesdropping shamelessly on his two friends.

"Mmm, well I suppose it is pretty earth-shattering if you think about it," Clyde said with his mouth full, something that made Token cringe slightly. Kenny made a mental note of that; apparently Token was all for proper table manners.

Clyde made him the courtesy of swallowing his bite before continuing "anyway, Craig told me that weird skinny girl with the red hair and the hood was all over Tweek in the upstairs bathroom."

Kenny almost choked on the piece of bacon he was chewing. Since it was pointless to fake indifference anymore, he asked the first thing that came to his mind, giving some time to Token to process Clyde's information, which had left him pretty dumbfounded.

"Did they fuck?"

Clyde snickered at that, while Token tried to look not too flustered, failing miserably, which Kenny again thought that it was kind of cute. Since they obviously had their tongues down each other throats last night, he was allowed to at least regard Token as cute.

"I'm not sure but I don't think so," Clyde said. "I mean, I know Tweek. The guy hadn't even held a girl's hand before yesterday, so I doubt he would go for bathroom sex in the middle of a crowded house. I think they just made out a bit, right Toke?" he asked his friend, possibly, Kenny thought, because Token could provide a good input on most situations.

"Yeah, man, I think so too. I wonder if they are a thing now, though."

"Well, I've never heard Tweek mentioning her before, so I don't know if...whatever this is will continue. To be honest, it feels kind of random to me."

Kenny couldn't help but agreeing to that "it is random, dude, I mean Tweek and Lizzy? Nobody saw that coming."

"Lizzy! Yeah, that's her fucking name," Clyde exclaimed happily before continuing with his narration "I don't think they spent the night here though, I mean we would have spotted them in the morning."

"No, they didn't," Token explained. "Apart from you guys, only Craig and Jason spent the night and they both left pretty early today."

Token's statement made Clyde throw a quick glance at Kenny's direction and upon meeting the blonde's eyes, he quickly looked away as if they were sharing a terrible secret and they were embarrassed about it.

Kenny wondered again what else Clyde knew about last night. But before he could inquire discreetly, Clyde stood up stating that he had to go help his dad with the Sunday chores.

Kenny was suddenly terrified at the prospect of staying alone with Token so he did the first thing that came to his mind. He asked Clyde for a ride. Their houses were pretty close so Kenny was okay with Clyde dropping him off at his house and walking the small distance to his own place.

"Yeah, man, sure. I could use some company for the ride anyway."

Token accompanied them to the front door. He had previously declined Kenny's offer to help with the dishes. Clyde gave a small hug to his friend before exiting, leaving Kenny to stand uncomfortably at the threshold, not knowing what to do. After a couple of seconds of both staring awkwardly at each other, Token decided to break the silence "well, I guess I'll see you around."

"Oh, yeah, dude. Definitely," the blonde replied before storming outside, cursing under his breath for losing his cool. That didn't happen often. Kenny McCormick was a cocky, suave bastard, who had mastered the art of flirtatious teasing. However, the foggy images from last night, on Token's floor and definitely, he remembered vividly now, in his bed, made him feel like running as far away as possible from the guy he had almost had an one night stand with the previous night.

The ride back to Clyde's house was an uneventful one. Kenny decided to abandon his cunning plan to try and pry information from Clyde and pretended to doze off. As soon as they reached Clyde's house he jumped out of the car, mumbling a quick thank you.

The walk home on a chilly September morning was not something Kenny was looking forward to, but at least it would give him an opportunity to clear his head. As he was passing by his friends' houses, the first snow forming at the sides of the road, Kenny's thoughts revolved around the night before and what the hell it meant. Was he seriously attracted to Token, or was he just too damn wasted? And most importantly, why did he have that intolerable feeling that he was missing something? That he couldn't remember the most important detail of all.

When finally he reached his shack of a house, his head was hurting from all the thinking. The fact that he could already hear yelling coming from inside, didn't help. As soon as he shut the door behind him, he made a run for his room, completely ignoring his parents, who were engaged in their regular morning activities. Drinking and screaming their lungs out at each other. Once inside the safety of his room, he took off his torn jeans and his blue hoodie and collapsed onto his bed.

And then suddenly, as he was laying on his back staring at the cracks on the ceiling, it came to him. Crystal clear. That little thing Token had said the night before.

_I could make your life a lot easier._

What the hell was that supposed to mean? Now, Kenny McCormick may have been a dumb redneck, destined to lead a poor, unfulfilling life but he was a man of action. Plus, he felt really bad about himself for being awkward around Token and therefore allowing his self proclaimed title of master of seduction to come into question.

So he took out his ancient cell phone from his back pocket and texted Token; _wanna hang out later?_


	2. You Could Be Mine

Kenny didn't even have time to put his phone down when the response from Token arrived.

_Sure! What do you have in mind?_

Cringing slightly, Kenny wished Token would curve his enthusiasm a little. Who in their right minds, would be that excited about hanging out with him.

 _Dk. crashing the mall?_ he texted back, cursing himself for sounding so much like a thirteen year old girl. This time Kenny didn't even bother putting his phone away, he just stared at the broken screen, waiting for a reply. Exactly seven seconds later (he told himself he counted them to check on Token's eagerness) his screen lit up and Kenny read the message while reaching out to his nightstand for his cigarettes. He didn't usually smoke inside the house but since his parents were too preoccupied with each other to even notice, he thought he could get away without anyone storming into his room, kicking his ass for defiling their sacred home with his dirty smoke. It's not like his parents weren't smoking inside all the time. Especially pot, which was even worse. After opening his beat up window to at least direct the smoke outwards, and taking a long drag of his cancer stick, Kenny returned his attention to his cell.

In his latest text, Token was inquiring about the time.

Kenny's reply was a simple _5pm?_ , basically because he wanted to just stay in bed for a couple of hours, doing absolutely nothing and certainly not grinding his mind to remember the few remaining details he was missing from last night.

Token agreed almost immediately with a quick _see you then dude,_ leaving Kenny to his thoughts.

Eventually he drifted off, while coming to terms with the fact that he was not going to eat anything for lunch before leaving.

* * *

Waking up from a nice, long nap was the worst thing for Kenny, sometimes he wished he could just sleep himself to death. He cracked his eyes open and reached for his cell phone, which he must have probably kicked off at some point cause now the wrecked thing was laying on the floor at the foot of the bed.

His phone screen informed him that it was almost 4:30 so he begrudgingly emerged from the covers, rubbing his eyes with his palms. His tousled hair was falling in front of his eyes and he could see something moving from between his finger cracks. His little sister was standing at the half opened door of his room, peeking inside to determine whether Kenny was awake.

“Hey, Karen, come here.”

She tentatively stepped inside and shut the door behind her. Kenny was watching her while she made her way to his bed, sitting at the edge of it. She had just turned 13 over the summer and was quickly forming into a young woman. She was tall for her age, and Kenny was worrying that one day he might be shorter than his baby sister. Her body was shaping up, curves in the right places, although overall she looked a bit skinny, a trait all the McCormick kids were sharing due to the lack of frequent and substantial meals. She was wearing her pink sweatpants, with a few stains on them, and a black shirt. Her straight, brown hair fell graciously at the height of her shoulders. Kenny thought she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, though he felt a bit like a creep for checking out his own sister like that, so he rolled out of bed and pulled his pants up while searching for a decent shirt.

Finding clean and wholesome clothes in their house was a task in itself, which made Kenny sigh with relief when he found a plain orange shirt that didn’t smell that badly and could actually wear it to his meeting with Token. His torn light blue jeans from the night before would have to suffice, it's not like he was going on a date, right?

Karen was still sitting silently on his bed, as he was getting dressed, looking a bit detached from the world around her. That was nothing new though. Karen was always lost in her thoughts. Kenny sat beside her, wrapping his arm around her thin shoulders, tucking her close.

“What's up, princess?” he asked affectionately. Karen was the single person in the world, for whom Kenny would give his life for on the spot in order to ensure her wellbeing. He would literally die for her. And stay dead for that matter. The same applied to some of his friends as well, like Kyle or maybe even Stan, but it was different with Karen. He felt that if he loved her even an ounce more he would burst. She was his little sister, the most pure ideal Kenny had ever held in his trainwreck of a life.

“Nothing, much,” she replied with the same sad expression in her hazel eyes. “Are you going out again?”

“Yeah, I'm meeting this friend at the mall at 5. How've you been?”

“Well, you know, mom and dad were fighting again so I basically spent the whole day hiding in my room,” she sighed, before continuing “they’ve both passed out on the couch.”

Kenny didn't say anything to that. They both had come to terms, or at least they were trying to, with their shitty life, wanting nothing more than to get away from that place. Not that their parents didn't love them, they just didn't feel the need to change their whole life around in order to provide their kids with a safer, more normal environment for them to grow up in.

And it's not like they didn't love their parents back, they owned them their lives after all. They just didn't want to end up like them.

Kenny squeezed his sister harder against his side letting her head rest on his shoulder.

“Kenny?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“Will it always be like this?” she asked and Kenny felt his heart bumping hard against his chest. How was he supposed to answer that. How was he supposed to lie to a child, who had only come across the shitty part of life so far. And how was he supposed to tell the truth either, something far more cruel.

“Not always, princess,” he whispered to her hair finally. “Not always.”

* * *

He arrived at the mall ten minutes earlier. He was anxious to get out of that place. He almost told Karen to come with him and then, during his walk there, he was regretting that he didn’t. True, he had asked Token to hang out, in order to pry some information out of him and finally understand what the hell was going on, but his sister was more important than anything. Still, it was too late now, so he just stepped inside the familiar building.

He slumped down on a bench outside of Hot Topic, watching the emo douchebags coming and going with bags on their hands. He had always hated the emo scene. And the goth one. And everything else that derived from Poe’s work. Not the kids themselves, _hell_ he had spent a lot of mornings, skipping classes to smoke with Michael and his gang at the back of their school. Henrietta even gave him a blow job once at some kind of underground cult gathering where he had gone looking for answers. He had to admit that girl was a natural. He’d have loved to do more things with her, but she got together with Michael a while after that and Kenny might have been a lot of things but a homewrecker was not one of them. Until that point, at least.

But still, he hated the whole goth ideology. I mean, he knew the world was fucked up, that nothing ever really made sense. Of course he knew that. How could he not? But still, dressing in black and whining all the time about it wasn’t his idea of coping. He had read something in a comic, once, that he borrowed from the public library. _We are all at the edge of that pit. But we get to choose what we do while we’re here. I’m dancing. We’re not going to fall in. Not yet._ He had memorized it because it struck so many chords. He was constantly at the edge of the pit. And he was constantly falling in. For some the pit was dying, for others it was losing someone they loved, but for Kenny, for Kenny his whole life had been a pit too. Dancing at the edge of it was what he had been doing since he was old enough to understand things, in order to keep not only his sanity but his soul as well. So, yeah, he really didn’t see eye to eye with all that goth stuff. Or the emo, which were even worse.

Musing over things like that made Kenny craving for a smoke but before he had the chance to go outside and fill his lungs with nicotine, he spotted a tall figure coming towards him with the corner of his eye. Token was dressed in beige khakis topped with a white t-shirt and a dark brown buttoned down cardigan. Damn, was he always that well-dressed? wondered Kenny, who couldn’t for the life of him, picture Token at school. He had never paid much attention to what he was wearing before, hell he didn’t do that with any of his friends, why was he being so conscious now?

“Hey,” Token greeted him when he approached him, putting an end to his stylistic contemplation.

“Hey man,” Kenny sensed the same nervousness he felt that morning around Token threatening to overwhelm him and silently chastised himself, demanding of himself to get his shit together.

 To be fair, Token appeared to be in the same state of awkwardness as he conspicuously cleared his throat “I hope you haven’t been waiting long.”

 “No, man, just a few minutes, don’t worry about it.”

“So, what do you want to do?” asked Token.

Kenny hadn’t thought of that when he suggested hanging out at the mall. Apparently Token wasn’t the type of guy that would just sit around watching other people shopping. His idea of spending time with another person involved actually _doing_ something with them, which in turn involved, of course, money.

He wasn’t completely broke, as it was the case most of the time, but still he didn’t have enough money for costly recreational activities.

“Hey, I know,” offered Token after a bit “the new Hunger Games movie is out. Wanna watch that?”

A movie huh? Kenny did a mental scan of his pockets and remembered he had enough money for a movie ticket. He would have to skip eating lunch at school the next day but fuck it; he could always have Kyle’s leftovers.

“Yeah, sure, let’s do that,” he agreed.

Token’s eyes lit up; clearly he was a movie buff. “Great! I checked online and there is a screening in half an hour,” he informed Kenny, while he started heading towards the multiplex. Bijou theater had closed down a couple of years back; apparently that creepy ticket taker guy was involved in some kind of child molesting incident and of course that fact, apart from absolutely heinous, was also bad for business. A big cinema chain didn’t waste any time, however, and set up shop inside the South Park mall. They built only four screens but still it was better than having to go through a pedophile in order to enjoy a movie.

“That’s cool,” confirmed Kenny.

When they were in front of the ticket counter, Token immediately took out his fancy leather wallet and Kenny assumed that he was planning to pay for both of them. He cut him off, though, by sliding next to him and dropping a few crumbled dollar bills and some coins on the counter.

The ticket lady, a middle aged woman with red butterfly glasses, raised an eyebrow at them “Are you boys paying separately?”

And before Token had a chance to reply, Kenny pushed his money on the counter towards her, “Yes please, ma’am.” He had a way with the ladies; no one could deny him that. The ticket lady smiled at him as she was accepting his money and issuing him the ticket. Token waited for his turn and then paid for his own ticket, a slightly frowning expression on his face.

When they were moving away from the counter, Kenny noticed that Token’s hand was fidgeting, inches away from his own, and he was silently wondering what he was going to do if Token gave in and stopped resisting his obvious urge to hold his hand.

Luckily, Token didn’t actually give in and he just kept heading towards their screen. As soon as they were outside of it, though, he turned around abruptly as if he had forgotten something vital.

“Oh, man we forgot to buy popcorn!” he told Kenny, looking over his shoulder at his blonde friend.

Kenny felt himself blushing, cause he was practically broke by now and he was also too embarrassed to admit that to Token. He felt a bit annoyed at his friend as well, since him being dirt poor was no secret, in fact it was one of those unquestionable truths about South Park like how the Broflovskis were Jews and Cartman’s mom was a dirty slut.

But still, since Token was heading happily towards the snack stand, oblivious to his friend’s predicament, Kenny had no choice but to point out the obvious.

“Hey Token, wait,” he almost yelled at his friend’s departing back. Token turned around to look at him, a bit confused. “What’s the matter?”

Kenny tried, he really did, to just admit his lack of further cash but in the end he realized he couldn’t do it. He settled for a half ass lie instead “I’m not really in the mood for it.”

Token raised an eyebrow “are you sure?”

Kenny sighed, of course Token wouldn’t buy his bullshit. “Yeah, man, don’t worry about it. You can get some for yourself, though.” 

Token appeared thoughtful for a second before replying “Nah, it’s okay, I’ll just get a bottle of water,” he said, obviously deciding against pressing the issue further.

When Token was done buying his water, they entered the screen and went straight for the best seats, which luckily were still unoccupied. They made themselves comfortable, while waiting for the movie to begin. By the time the opening credits were rolling in, the room was packed with people, mostly fourteen year old girls but Kenny didn’t really mind. He didn’t even remember the previous movies but decided against asking Token to summarize their plot to him, cause he would probably analyze the directing style and the performances and other artistic crap like that. In Kenny’s mind, Token was a bonafide hipster, artsy and cultured, always ready to spread his precious aesthetic understanding of the world. It annoyed and intrigued him at the same time.

After the first ten minutes, he stopped paying attention to the movie altogether. And yes, Jennifer Lawrence was hot as fuck, but he preferred her as the menacing, mutinous Mystique anyway. Instead, he just sat there, next to Token, their hands almost touching upon their respective arm rests, pondering on what the fuck was going on.

I mean, this felt so natural, watching a movie with Token, that it reached the point of being unsettling. Since when he and Token were such good buddies? Making out extensively with a guy didn’t mean he automatically get to feel so comfortable around him. And so soon for that matter. Sure, their respective groups had stopped antagonizing many years ago and now, in their senior year, almost their whole class was hanging out and doing stuff together. But still, he had never been that close to Token, this was the very first time that they went someplace all by themselves. And why did it feel so like a date? Again Kenny chastised himself mentally for letting the whole situation get to him.

By the end of the movie, Kenny had almost fallen asleep three times, despite the fact that he took a nap at his house before his meeting with Token. He couldn’t help it, though. Feeling nervous always made him sleepy. Token had to gently nudge his arm a couple of times, in order to rouse him.

“So, did you like it?” Token asked when they were outside the auditorium.

“Yeah. I guess so? I’m not really a fan.”

“Well, the books are better, anyway.” Of course Token would have read the books, acting all hipsterish about it, Kenny thought, smirking to himself.

“What do you wanna do now?” inquired his friend. Again Kenny couldn’t answer. Now that he was officially broke the options were withering.

“I’m kinda hungry to be honest,” Token continued “would you like to go to TGI Fridays? It’s not far, just outside the mall.”

Kenny almost snapped. Now Token was just being insensitive. There’s no way he didn’t know he couldn’t afford that.

“Token, dude, I don’t have any money left.”

Token looked like caught in the headlights. He averted his gaze to the ground, scratching the back of his neck. “Don’t..don’t” he stammered, struggling to find the right words. Finally he looked at Kenny again offering “Don’t worry about that, man! It’s my treat. Seriously, don’t even think about the money.”

Kenny raised an eyebrow at that. So that’s what Token was playing at. His mind went back to his own devious plan of tricking his first real girlfriend into giving him oral sex, by taking her at Friday’s.

He wasn’t mad though. Far from it. In fact, he should have seen that coming.

Token must have realized how his offer had sounded because he immediately added, “Hey, I just thought it would have been nice. I don’t really like eating alone. If you don’t want to it’s okay, we could always go for a walk or something.”

Damn, he looked so awkward, shuffling his feet, not really know where to put his hands, whether to keep them in his cardigan’s pockets of folded over his chest. He seemed honest enough too, so Kenny throwing any caution to the wind, reluctantly accepted. A free meal at Fridays is a free meal at Fridays, no matter how you look at it.

“Sure, fine, whatever, let’s go. It’s been ages since I’ve been to that place, anyway.”

Token beamed so brightly up to him that almost made Kenny sad, regretting his decision. How feeding his poor ass made Token so happy was beyond him. Maybe he had some kind of charity kink.

When they were outside the mall, Kenny immediately lit a cigarette. The walk to the restaurant was indeed really short and they had to wait outside for a few moments to finish it. Token kept talking about the movie and Kenny wasn’t really paying attention, but he appreciated the distraction of the small talk.

“How long have you been smoking?” Token suddenly asked, bringing Kenny back to earth.

“Umm, I don’t know, since ninth grade? I don’t remember.”

“Wow. That’s a long time. How did you get cigarettes?”

“I stole them from my parents occasionally. Or from my brother.”

Token nodded, not adding anything else on the matter and Kenny noted that there was a hint of disapproval on his expression. He probably was all for a healthy lifestyle or whatever.

Once inside, the host guided them to a table at the back and soon after that the waiter arrived to take their order. Token ordered the Jack Daniels chicken and Kenny a bacon cheeseburger. Damn! He just went through the menu and already his mouth was watering. It made sense, though, since the last time he ate was in Token’s place, when he cooked breakfast for them. So that was the second time the same day that Token was feeding his sorry ass. When the waiter brought them their drinks, two homemade lemonades, Kenny couldn’t keep up appearances anymore.

He took a sip out of his drink, stared Token right in his eyes and asked the question that has been on his mind since he went home that day.

“So. Is this what you meant by making my life easier? Taking me out to fancy restaurants?”

Token felt his face heating up, but he held Kenny’s gaze, swallowing a bit before answering “Well, I just figured it would be nice, having dinner here, you know?”

“Yeah, but we have to talk about it, dude. Or do you want to just pretend nothing happened?” Kenny asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend.

“No, no, you’re right, we should talk about it,” replied Token before shrugging slightly “the way I see it is that we could you know…do stuff together. You see, here’s the thing. My parents insist on giving me a huge allowance each month. I could never spend all that by myself. So taking a friend of mine out to dinner isn’t an issue.” He paused for a while but Kenny decided against cutting in on his thoughts, so he remained silent, waiting for Token to continue.

“So, if you want to as well, of course, I thought that maybe we could spend time together and see what happens. If you’d like that too, that is,” he was babbling but Kenny didn’t necessarily mind. Before he had a chance to reply their food arrived and at the sight of it, as instinctively, Kenny’s stomach let out a loud growl. He blushed, embarrassed, but Token’s mouth curled upwards in a reassuring smile “Let’s dig in and finish this conversation later,” he suggested. Kenny just nodded before attacking his cheeseburger.

* * *

When they left the restaurant, Token guided them to where he had parked his BMW.

“Let me drive you home, Kenny," Token said. "I won't take no for an answer."

He was trying to sound determined but Kenny thought he was mostly adorable. Which was alarming in and of itself. Plus, he wasn't in the mood for arguing further so he accepted Token's offer.

The drive back to Kenny’s place was a small, mostly silent one. Token parked the car near the railroad tracks, at the opposite side of Kenny’s house.

It was pretty dark and Kenny was getting all nervous again, inside Token’s fancy car. Luckily they were out of sight from his place. If his folks saw him inside a BMW, they were definitely going to think he was hustling. He didn’t have more time to worry about that, though, because suddenly Token was right in front of him, his face inches from his own, _how the hell did he move so fast,_ and he was staring at him as if looking for some kind of confirmation.

Kenny didn’t know what to do, which was unheard of, he always was pretty confident in those kind of situations; he was left staring back at his friend, who leaned in, displaying an uncharacteristically amount of courage and then his lips were on Kenny’s. Token didn’t withdraw right away, he prolonged his gentle kiss, which allowed Kenny to snap out of his initial shock and kiss him back. Token sighed into his mouth, as if he was relieved that Kenny was actually responding and deepened their kiss, bringing his hand to rest at the back of Kenny's neck.

They made out for a while; Token's lips were soft and his mouth had a lingering taste of the Jack Daniels sauce he had earlier and for some reason that sent a surge of arousal rushing through Kenny's body, until they were both out of breath. Kenny pulled away first and stared at Token. He looked so content it was ridiculous. "Well, good night, I guess, thanks for dinner," Kenny said.

"Good night," Token replied before adding "see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, dude," and with that Kenny was out of the car, making his way to his house.

His family was asleep so he went straight to his room, slipped out of his clothes and collapsed on the bed.

His last thought before drifting off to sleep was, oddly enough, of his old home economics teacher, Miss Choise, something that, Kenny thought, was a bit terrifying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The quote is from the incredibly beautiful comic book, 'The Wicked + The Divine' by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, issue 16.


	3. Ain't No Rest For The Wicked

Kenny woke up ten whole minutes before his alarm went off and he took it as a sign of how distressed he had been over the whole Token situation.

His dreams were hazy and tormenting, filled with that unbearable, pestering sensation that he should make up his mind about something and pretty soon. He was flattered of course and he was all for sloppy makeout sessions in the front seat of a car, and in Token's king-sized bed but was he really going to accept his proposal? Was he really going to stoop so low and offer his companionship, and whatever the hell that included, for material exchanges, like a meal at TGI Friday’s?

I mean, Token was a nice guy and all, probably one of the nicest in his class but was that enough? If he wasn’t seriously attracted to him and he was just playing along for the benefits of being involved with the richest kid in town what did that make him?

Kenny, of course, knew what that made him. He had been called that before, numerous times, and probably had acted the part too, because it’s really hard to maintain your self-respect when you hadn’t eaten in three days. A whore. He hadn’t let anyone to actually fuck him for money, but memories of that ridiculous show he appeared in back in elementary school came to mind.

And then his alarm went off, 'Ain't no rest for the wicked' blasting from a random radio station and Kenny actually paid attention to the song, cause the lyrics were so relevant to his current predicament as if the whole universe was mocking him.

_And if you pay the right price Your evening will be nice_

He slammed it shut and got out of his bed to start getting ready for school. It was the end of September and Kenny was already feeling tired. Their graduation couldn’t come soon enough. So far their senior year had been nothing but an exhausting pressure from everyone around them to get their shit together and start applying to various colleges. And Kenny had always known he was not going to college. His family couldn’t possibly afford it. He had been saving some money, hidden away in a personal bank account, from random jobs he did at some point, but all that was for Karen. Combined with financial aid, she should be able to get into the community college in Denver. His brother joined the army as soon as he graduated, so their little sister was going to be the first member of their dysfunctional family to receive higher education. Something that Kenny was more than okay with.

Thinking of Karen, reminded him that he should check if she was awake, he didn’t want to be late and get sent to the counselor again. They always rode the bus together to school, most of the times joined by Ruby Tucker, who was Karen’s best friend and didn’t want to ride a car full of douchebags, as he was kindly referring to her big brother and his buddies.

He put on his only other pair of jeans, dark blue and straight legged, with a few rips across the knees and his blue hoodie. He had ditched that enormous orange thing that had gotten him all through elementary school and replaced it a couple of years back, when he had saved enought money, with a comfy anorak, albeit still orange. When he was out of his room, he knocked on Karen’s door, shouting to her to get ready and then entered the kitchen in order to prepare something paltry for his and Karen's lunch. When he was done he put on his shoes, a pair of black Chuck Taylors, checked if he had enough smokes to get him through the day and opened the front door of their crumbling house. And then he froze.

Token was on the street across his house, leaning against his BMW, skimming through the pages of what appeared to be his Calculus exercise book.

Kenny looked around him nervously and then he approached his friend, who saw fit to appear at his doorstep at seven am on a Monday morning.

“Dude, what are you doing here?” he hissed as soon as he was by Token’s side.

Token lifted his eyes from his book and a genuine smile appeared on his face upon seeing it was Kenny. “Good morning to you too,” he replied genially. “I thought I could give you a ride to school,” he shrugged “your house is on the same route as mine, anyway.”

Kenny smirked. Not only Token was moving too fast but he was horrible at lying about it as well. “No, it isn’t. Your house is literally on the other side of the town.”

Token blushed “Will you just get in the car already?” he said rolling his eyes and nodding towards the vehicle.

Kenny laughed but then he sombered up abruptly “I always ride the bus with my sister to school, dude.”

Token appeared thoughtful for a moment as if that small detail was in the way of a thoroughly conceived plan but then he smiled again offering “Well, I could drive both of you of course.”

He didn’t have time to respond as he heard someone calling out to him.  “Kenny wait up!” Karen exclaimed while coming out of the house, trying to balance the straps of her old backpack to her shoulders. She took a few steps on the snow covered ground and then, as her brother before her, froze at the sight of Token’s car.

Kenny sighed and gestured at her to approach. When she was by her brother’s side, Kenny looped his arm around her shoulders urging her closer “Hey princess, do you remember my friend Token?”

Karen nodded bashfully “Hello.”

“Hi there,” Token replied employing his most charming smile.

“Token is going to give us a ride to school, okay Karen?”

Karen looked at her brother and then whispered “What about Ruby?” and before Kenny had a chance to answer she continued “maybe you can drop me at Ruby’s house and we will walk together to the next stop,” she suggested.

Kenny looked at his sister for a moment, brows furrowing “Are you sure, princess?”

Karen nodded and then glanced at Token, offering him a small smile.

The ride was mostly silent and awkward. Kenny knew that Karen was puzzled by this sudden change to their regular routine, but was too shy to question it. And he really hoped it remained that way because there was no way in hell he could explain to his little sister what was going on between him and Token. Basically because he didn’t have a clue himself.

When they arrived outside the Tucker residence Karen jumped out of the back seat, mumbling a quiet thank you to Token and Kenny watched her all the way to Ruby’s front door.

The rest of the ride was short, South Park High School was located pretty close to their old elementary school; Randy Marsh had launched a campaign when they were in sixth grade to fund the building and the operation costs for the foundation of a public secondary school in order for the South Park kids to avoid having to travel all the way to North Park in order to receive their education.

Just before they were about to arrive Token put on music, a hipsterish radio station Kenny hadn’t even heard of. He knew the song though, "Do I wanna know" by Arctic Monkeys and he was almost humming along the lyrics under his breath.

When they arrived at the school’s parking lot it was still early, the few cars that were already there probably belonged to some of the teachers; Kenny spotted the distinctive ’97 Ford Contour that belonged to Mr. Mackey, who got promoted around the time they were finishing middle school to high school counselor.

Token parked the car in the most distant corner of the parking lot, but kept the engine on, turning his head left and right in order to check their surroundings. It was deserted enough. The song was still playing and Kenny briefly wondered if Token had this in mind all along when he appeared at his doorstep offering him a ride.

He didn’t have time to mull over it though, cause suddenly Token leaned in and kissed him at the corners of his mouth. He kept his eyes open and no matter how resolved he tried to look, Kenny could still spot a hint of uncertainty inside them. The kiss was soft and hasty and then Token retreated and pinned his gaze on the steering wheel, blushing slightly. He was ready to turn off the engine and exit the car but Kenny, as if he was waken up abruptly from a hazy slumber, reached for his arm and yanked him back towards his chest, crashing their mouths together. Because that’s what he wanted.

He could still feel a lingering taste of coffee in Token’s mouth, accompanied with minty toothbrush and Kenny was kissing him breathlessly, prying his mouth open with his tongue, a few remaining notes from the song still blasting through the sound system. And then Token’s hands were cupping his face, tangling his messy hair, stroking his shoulders and his back, pressing their chests closer and closer together and Kenny was hard.

His eyes opened wide at the realization, relinquishing any doubt from his mind as he was exploring Token's mouth with his tongue and biting softly at his lower lip.

Token pulled away after a while and looked straight into Kenny’s eyes, both of them gasping for air, and he huffed a low ‘wow’.

Kenny smirked, he had always cherished that effect that he had on people. He subtly sneaked a glance at his own pants, actually content that the effect had been mutual.

“We should head inside,” Token nodded towards the entrance to the school building. Students had started to appear and there were a few more cars parked closer to the building. Kenny was sure that Stan’s old pickup would appear any second now and he wasn’t in the mood to be questioned by his assholes friends.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

When they were outside the school entrance Kenny stopped “I’ll catch you inside, I’m going for a smoke.”

Their schedules couldn’t have been more different anyway, since Token was in pretty much every AP class along with Kyle and Wendy and Kenny was barely struggling for the necessary credits to at least graduate.

Token stared at him for a while and Kenny couldn’t help but notice the same disappointment that was apparent on his friend’s face every time Kenny mentioned smoking.

Nevertheless Token nodded in agreement and stepped inside the building. Kenny, for the second time that day, watched someone walking away from him, through the glass panels on the heavy door.

That reminded him of Karen and he turned to check if the bus had arrived yet. It wasn’t a long way from the bus stop near the Tucker residence but the driver always made a few stops along the way to pick up small elementary school children and preschoolers.

When the bus was nowhere in sight, he reassured himself that the driver was just running late again and rushed towards the back of their school in order to avoid bumping into one of the teachers and receiving a lecture against loitering for his troubles.

He was surprised to see Pete there, the Goths usually skipped first period altogether, so probably he was having trouble at home again. Pete had been living with his father, since his mother ran away, only months after she gave birth to him, in a halfway decent trailer not far away from Kenny’s home. His father was a sturdy, simple man who was working minimum wage at a gas company in Denver and who, according to his own mind, was trying his best to offer his only son a decent albeit humble life. Of course, the fact that his son had ended up hating life altogether, smoking one pack a day and dyeing strands of his hair red wasn’t what he had in mind. Serious fights were due to ensue but Kenny was certain that things never got out of hand. Just the typical parental criticism against an alternative lifestyle.

Kenny often wondered why his family was considered the poorest in South Park, while they were obviously other ‘competing’ cases, but he attributed it to the fact that the McCormicks had three children to support and not just one. If support was the right word for what his alcoholic deadbeat dad was doing. Still he was so grateful for his siblings, Karen was the light of his life and even his stupid brother had his shining moments.

He leaned on the wall, his left knee bent against it and took out his cigarettes from his jeans pocket. As he was watching the puffy clouds of smoke coming out of his nostrils and ascending to the sky, observing Pete doing the same a few feet away from him, he realized he had made up his mind about this whole mess.

* * *

The day had gone by uncharacteristically quick for a Monday. Kenny basically slept through the whole first period. He had English along with Stan, who tried to engage him in some kind of exchanging notes conversation, mostly about his weekend, but Kenny stopped responding after a while and folded his arms on his desk, resting his head atop of them.

By the time lunch hour arrived, Kenny’s stomach had been growling and he was pissed at himself for feeling so damn hungry. He shouldn’t be, not after that glorious dinner he had last night. His resilience against a poor diet was what had gotten him so far and it was stupid of him to allow himself to be spoiled.

When he entered the cafeteria he strode to their regular table, after making a brief stop to the table Karen had been sitting with her friends to make sure she was okay. That earned him a few chuckles from a bunch of thirteen year old girls, who apparently all had a crush on him. Well, maybe except for Ruby who was already going out with someone, that little Goth kid a year younger than them, Firkle. Kenny thought his sister was too young for boys and that was it. He didn’t want her to end up like him, who was fooling around since grade school.

Once he was at their table, he took out a plain cheese sandwich from his black, ripped backpack and devoured it seconds before Kyle and Cartman arrived from their law class. Stan was already at their table when Kenny arrived, scribbling lyrics to his notepad, not even noticing he had company or his almost intact food on the table right in front of him.

“Hi dudes,” Kyle greeted them cheerfully.

Stan finally lifted his eyes to smile at Kyle but then his gaze fell to Kenny and he frowned “Dude, how long have you been here?"

“Jesus Christ hippie. Did you come to school drunk again?” Cartman snorted.

“Shut the fuck up,” Kyle exclaimed while sitting down and placing his trey before him. Cartman did the same but avoided commenting further. Puberty had hit all of them hard, even Eric Cartman, who shaped nicely into his excessive weight and stopped being such a raging asshole.

Kyle and Stan started talking about the latest song he was writing and Cartman was eating his lunch mostly in silence, occasionally rolling his eyes if some lyrics were too cheesy. Kenny was just watching them, trying his hardest to conquer his hunger and utterly failing mostly because he hadn’t anything to look forward to. Doubtfully there would be something better for dinner back at his place than frozen waffles or pop tarts. He would have to put together something for him and Karen.

“Uhm Kenny? Aren’t you going to eat anything?”

Kenny saw the concern on Kyle’s face and he has half tempted to let him give him half his lunch. “I already ate dude, don’t worry about it.”

Kyle stared at him for a long moment and then he nodded “Okay.” Just as he was ready to dig into his own food, someone loomed over their table.

Token was standing in front of them rubbing his palms, looking nervous as hell.

“How are you doing guys?” he asked trying to maintain a casual look on his face.

“Fine, Toke, how are you?” Stan replied, closing his notepad.

“Dude, did you solve that last problem on Calculus? It was so fucking hard! I barely got my head around it."

“That’s because you’re a Jew and not Asian,” Cartman smirked.

Kyle rolled his eyes “Could you be anymore politically incorrect?” he scoffed and turned his attention back to Token “Ignore that fat fuck.”

“Hey!” Cartman was ready to protest that he was no longer fat just bulky but Stan cut him off “Did you want anything man?” he asked gesturing at Token. Kenny had been watching the whole exchange, half amused half terrified. He didn’t really mind his friend’s spontaneous acts of audacity but he kept surprising him.

Token turned his gaze towards him, for the first time since he came by their table “Kenny, would you like to come sit with us?” All of his friends stopped eating at that, even Cartman, who sneered but didn’t say anything.

“We’re sitting right over there,” Token continued waving a hand through the air, gesturing to a nearby table where his group was regularly sitting. Kenny was surprised to see a girl sitting with them today. Was that Lizzy?

As if he was reading his thoughts Kyle inquired “Why is Lizzy sitting with you guys?”

Token shrugged “Oh, she and Tweek are a thing now apparently.” Kyle almost choked and Stan’s eyes opened wide. Kenny just smirked under his breath. He felt so superior, knowing that kind of stuff before his friends.

“Tweek has a girlfriend? I thought that guy would never get some!” Cartman exclaimed.

Kyle rolled his eyes “Yeah, like you are the one to talk.”

“Hey! The ladies happen to love me, you ignorant Jew!” Before Kyle had the chance to reply Token continued “I don’t know if she’s actually his girlfriend or whatever but she’s been sitting with us all lunch. Haven’t you guys noticed?”

“We don’t occupy ourselves with what your little gang of shitheads is doing, Token,” Cartman replied.

Token rolled his eyes “Anyway, so Kenny, are you coming?”

Kenny didn’t answer right away, he didn’t mind going with Token, especially after the moment they had shared in his car this morning, and he wouldn’t admit it even to himself but he actually caught himself wondering what Token was going during boring and long classes, or even staring at him during one of their shared ones. But there was this nagging feeling tugging at his brain that things were happening and they were happening really fast and he didn’t know how to keep up.

And then he told himself to stop acting like an emo whiny bitch about it. “Yeah, sure.” He got up and shot a quick “see you guys later” to his friends, who were left staring at them walking away.

“I haven’t actually bought lunch yet,” Token said while they were approaching the lunch line. “I was late cause I was going over some things with the Calculus teacher. Kyle was right, those problems she made us solve today were horrible,” he explained.

When it was time for them to order, Token turned to Kenny and asked him quietly “So, um, what do you want?”

Kenny rolled his eyes “Dude, you don’t have to buy me lunch.”

“Well, I noticed that you weren’t eating anything.”

“I ate something before you even got here! God, why is everyone so preoccupied with what I eat today!” Kenny snapped, but upon noticing the embarrassed look on Token’s face, he immediately regretted it.

“Well, I just thought you might want something, not gonna force food down your throat or anything…”

“You guys are gonna order or what?” The cafeteria guy asked them and they both turned to look at him. Kenny sighed, defeated, “Just get me a slice of pizza.” Token smiled and ordered for the both of them.

Back at Token’s table, Kenny felt a tension in the air as soon as they were sitting down next to Tweek and Lizzy. Clyde smirked upon seeing them together and Kenny was now completely sure that he and Token pretty much discussed everything.

Craig was staring at everyone with a murderous glare and Kenny almost shivered. “Oh that’s just great. Isn’t it bad enough that we have to tolerate this bitch…” he gestured towards Lizzy “…sitting with us, now we have to make room for the whitetrash too?”

Token and Clyde rolled their eyes but Lizzy didn’t look at all taken back by Craig’s vile statement. “Fuck off Tucker,” she grunted while flipping him off. Tweek, however, looked utterly shocked.

“D-don’t call Lizzy a bitch, man, what is wrong with you?”

Craig gave him a long and intense stare, his expression hardened and Kenny could have sworn that he saw not only anger in his eyes, but hurt as well.

After a moment full of tension, Craig got up scoffing “Whatever, I’m going for a smoke.”

As soon as he left the cafeteria, Lizzy stood up herself muttering "Jesus Christ that guy needs to get laid." She turned to Tweek who still looked pretty aghast about the whole thing "Anyway, I'm gonna go find the girls, see you later babe," she said leaning down for a goodbye kiss.

"Tell Bebe her man says hi," Clyde yelled and Lizzy rolled her eyes.

The moment she was out of earshot Kenny turned to Token who looked pretty distressed from all the drama “Umm, what just happened?” Kenny asked.

“Don’t mind Craig, Kenny," Clyde jumped in. "That’s just his regular charming self. You can sit with us anytime you like, right Toke?” he winked at him and Token blushed murmuring under his breath “Clyde, you idiot.” Clyde smirked and went back to finishing his lunch.

Tweek wasn’t saying anything, he appeared lost in his thoughts, a slight shudder going through his body from time to time. Kenny was curious though.

“Hey, Tweek” he said and Tweek jumped in his seat letting out a small yelp.

“J-Jesus, you startled me man!”

“I’m sorry,” Kenny offered taking a bite out of his pizza “So, what’s the deal with you and Lizzy?” he asked with a full mouth.

Token shot him a warning glance, probably because Tweek didn’t like being out on the spot like that but Kenny knew how to handle these situations. Talking about romantic subjects was what he did best, after being actually involved in them.

Tweek blushed but answered nevertheless “I-I don’t really know man. I guess we are kind of together.”

Kenny raised an eyebrow “You guess? You don’t know?”

“Well, we never really talked about it, we were both pretty drunk at Token’s party and we ended up making out.”

“That’s my boy right over there,” Clyde cheered with a mouth full of taco.

But Kenny wasn’t satisfied “That’s it?”

Tweek fumbled with the mismatched buttons of his shirt “N-No, we actually went for a walk yesterday too.”

Token furrowed his brows, “Really? You didn’t tell me that.”

“I was going to but then Craig got all pissed off and everything…” Tweek huffed exasperated “A-Anyway, we didn’t really talk, just made out some more.”

Kenny was pretty amazed by the whole thing. He had never seen Tweek with a girl before.

“Oh, and she actually told me that she had liked me for a while. She said it was because I’m, you know, unusual and everything,” Tweek reminisced fondly.

Clyde gave him a thumbs up and Token smiled broadly, he was really happy for his friend. Tweek took another swig from his coffee filled thermos and then got up from his seat. “I think I’m going to check on Craig,” he stated before heading towards the cafeteria door. Clyde gobbled down his last bite and mimicked him, wiping his mouth with a paper napkin “Yeah and I’m gonna go find Bebe. See you guys later!”

Token shot Kenny a sideways glance grumbling under his breath “Well, that was subtle.”

Kenny laughed at that “Does he…” he waved a hand at Clyde’s retreating back “…know about us?”

Token swallowed his bite hard and nodded “He knows something’s going on,” he confirmed and then turned to stare at Kenny “Not the whole details though.” And then as if he suddenly remembered something he inquired “You didn’t mind that I asked you to sit with us, did you?”

“No, don’t worry about it, man,” Kenny replied.

“Cause your friends probably thought it was weird."

Kenny snorted “Dude, I grew up around Eric Cartman, I can handle all the criticism in the world.”

Token’s eyes lit up and he gave a small laugh “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“And speaking of judgmental jerks, what’s the deal with Craig anyway? I mean, he was being more of an asshole than usual.”

Token sighed “It’s complicated”.

“We still got half an hour before lunch is over,” Kenny smirked.

Token chuckled "You live for this stuff, don't you?" he teased.

"Hey, I just want to be well informed!"

Token rolled his eyes but started his narration “You see, when we were in elementary school it used to be just me, Craig and Clyde. The both of them had known each other since kindergarten and I guess I started hanging out with them in first grade. Jason would hang out with us occasionally or Jimmy, but Jimmy got really close to Timmy at some point and they were doing their own thing. And then in third grade, Craig had that huge fight with Tweek, remember? The one that you dumbasses orchestrated?"

Kenny put up his hands in front of him, feigning innocence "Hey I had little to do with that, you know".

Token raised an eyebrow "O-kay. Anyway, after the fight, and I don’t know how it happened actually, they became really good friends, And Craig would start bringing Tweek to every thing we did. I was okay with it, Tweek is cool and all his little quirks just make him more interesting, I totally agree with Lizzy on that. Clyde was a little jealous but he got over it. He doesn’t have the attention span to hold a grudge,” Token chuckled. "So it was the four of us. But then during that whole year that you were…" he trailed off clearly struggling to find the right word to describe what had happened to Kenny during his 'leap' year. It was nothing new, people were always uncomfortable talking about his deaths and he should have been used to it by now, but the truth was it wasn't getting any easier. Not after all the blood he had spilled, all the pain he had suffered, some kind of basic acknowledgment was the least he was entitled to.

"...away" he finally said and Kenny almost snapped.

"I was dead," he deadpanned quietly.  

Token swallowed hard "Yes", and quickly changed the subject "During that year your dickheads friends kind of stole Tweek away from us. I mean he obviously abandoned us to start hanging out with those guys but it was easier to blame Stan and his group for the division in our not as tightknit as we had thought gang."

"Craig was furious, he was antagonizing Stan even more than usual and terrorizing us into pretending Tweek had never even existed. The weird thing is though, that when you…came back and immediately Tweek became expendable, Craig took him back in. Tweek didn’t come crying back to us, no, he just kept to himself, sitting all alone and everything and then some day Craig started bringing him back to hang out with us. Again I don’t know what really happened between them, how they reconciled but we just accepted our restored status quo. Me because I hate drama and Clyde well because he is Clyde, he is pretty simple minded."

Kenny was listening intrigued to what Token was saying, slightly frowning when he was mentioning his death but in the end he was as much confused as he was before.

"I pretty much knew all that, dude, they don't explain why he is acting like such a dick now."

Token appeared thoughtful for a moment "I think that Craig is still afraid that you guys are gonna steal us away from him or something. That’s why he acted like an asshole before when you came to sit with us. Plus he had been utterly shocked to see Tweek with a girl."

Kenny chuckled "Jesus Christ you make him sound like he is gay for him or something," he said but upon seeing the serious expression on Token's face, not deeming the joke all that funny, his smile fell.

"Is he?"

"I had often wondered the same," Token said "You know, Craig has never shown any romantic interest to anyone. Ever. He never talks about a girl or a boy that he likes, doesn’t talk about anything remotely sexual, like watching porn or something. To be honest I think he is asexual. Maybe he just likes Tweek as a close friend and he is overprotective of him, I don’t know. Or maybe, maybe he just wants him all to himself or something. Anyway, Tweek is like a hundred percent straight and Craig knows that."

"Really? I had never seen him with a girl before."

"Well, that’s because he is too nervous and anxious to make a move. Poor guy, he was actually so insecure, kept stressing over the fact that no girl was ever going to like him due to his issues. I’m so glad he got together with Lizzy, he looks genuinely happy. And don’t tell Stan this, but he had like the hugest crush on Wendy."

Kenny's eyes widened "Tweek? Seriously? When was that man? And why don’t I know about it? I’m supposed to know these things!"

Token snickered "Well, there are some things that even the wondrous Kenny McCormick doesn't know about. Anyway, it was back during eighth and ninth grade. I remember how he kept musing over how dynamic and strong Wendy was and how proud he would be if she were his girlfriend. But he never did anything about it, only the four of us knew. He kept saying that Wendy would never go for him, even in her off phases with Stan. He was too insecure to actually act upon it."

Kenny thought about it for a moment, it actually made sense. But he had other questions as well.

"So speaking about being gay or not, what’s up with you. I didn’t know you like dick either."

Token blushed "Well I don’t actually advertise it. The only two people that I’ve told other than my friends and my parents are Wendy and Nichole."

"But you dated both of them, dude."

"Yeah, that's why, there are the only girls that I came really close to, partly because we were dating at some point. And anyway Wendy was like a childhood romance, I didn’t know much about relationships or sexual orientations back then. And with Nichole we broke up in seventh grade, exactly because I started to realize a few things about myself."

"So you found out you were gay in seventh grade?

"Pretty much. How about you?"

"Well, ever since I can remember myself I was all about the looove, I don't care where it comes from," Kenny offered him a genuine smile and Token laughed "This might be the most romantic thing you have ever said to me dude."

Kenny laughed heartily, encouraging Token to continue "And then you were at my party, drinking all alone, and I had always liked you and Clyde kept nudging me to go and talk to you, and I was pretty wasted myself and I was like what the hell it's now or ever..." he was babbling but Kenny only paid attention to one thing.

"You always liked me?" he blurted out.

Token's stomach dropped upon realizing he let that slipped from his mouth. He looked really nervous, shifting his eyes from his half eaten lunch to Kenny's face and finally he murmured "Have you looked yourself in a mirror, lately? What’s not to like?"

Kenny felt a tugging feeling at his chest and resisted the urge to kiss Token right then and there, in the middle of the crowded cafeteria.

He still wasn’t sure what this thing between them was, but he was definitely along for the ride.


End file.
